The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1887-01-01
a Venerable Casting.

| from Inc -heiGi " OFhcF.
Some time since We received from
Messrs. B. G. Bib & Son pencil sketch
Of an old stove casting which they I'M,
earthed while making some excavations
near their foundry The casting is feet
l inch in width, feet : inches through
It's greatest height ! inch in thickness
and weighs 274 pounds. From the letter
accompanying the sketch we quote as
follows:
Some time since, in making an excava-
ton near cupola at our foundry, Port
Deposit, Nd, we came upon the origonal
of the sketch. You will notice that cast
in large figures on the face are the fig
ures "l767," evidently referring to the
date of its construction. This was evil
IDENTIFY cast III open sand. How it got
there or by whose agency we will per-
chance never know, but that it was
moulded at the old Principle Furnace We
are assured. 1t was cast for an old
fashioned fireplace for back. When
brought to light after its repose of over a
century it was in excellent condition
We have it now as valued acquisition
to our collections of art aud antiquity in
stoves and castings, and it has proven of
great interest to all autiquarians who
have seen it. TIE newspaper article i'll
closed with this touches upon the days
gone by, aud, as our old relic bears close
connection with that era, we send you q
rough draft of 1t, thinking that 1t might
interest you as a specimen of ancient
metal workers" skill.
The clipping to which our correspond
ents refer reads as follows:
The earliest information that iron ex-
listed in America Came from North Caro-
lima, whe re the expedition fitted out by
Dir Waiter Raleigh in 1905 discovered
iron ore on d reconnaissance up the RI
anoke. AS early as 1908 iron and iron
ore were exported from the Virginia col
ony to Enslan For some time before
the rupture with the mother country the
iron Industry of Maryland and Virginia
had grown to considerable Importance.
equally worthy of attention, since among
its founders, and later its managers, we
find the names of Augustine and Law
renee Washington, father and brother of
the liberator. The blast furnace in which
these gentlemen were interested was
erected by the Prlncipiu Company, on
Principle creek. Cecil county, Md. Later
the same company bought land OF Capt
A
Virginia, and thereon put up another
plant, und still another-the kingsbury
Furnace-in Baltimore county. In 1851
the company owned and worked four
furnaces and two FORCES 1t is stated
that about one-half of the pig iron ex-
ported from the colonies was produced
by this company.
George Washington grew up IN an at
mosphere OF pig iron. His boyhood was
full of trips to tho various furnaces in
which his family were interested. Like
other boys similar crcumst .ncad he used
to stay up late, when by all the laws and
traditions he should have been in bed, to
see the midnight cast" He could prob
ably tell by the color of the smoke
whether his father was making No. /
foundry iron or only No. % or gray
rge," and to the end of Ills useful
career the price of pig iron was dear to
his heart as the memories of Childhood
Seriously speaking, there can be little
| doubt that the early connection of the
General with iron works and workers
imbued him with that hearty respect for
industry aud the strong belief in the ad
vantages to the nation of progress in the
mechanical arts and industries that char
acteriZed his opinions and expressi Jns
throughout his life. And to those early
associations may be also attributed his
sound views on the question of protec-
ton TO native industries and native labor
against the injurious competition of for
eIgn countries, and especially foreign
pauper labor Washington and other
distinguished and patriotic colousts be-
fore hun believed that the Southern sec
zion of the American community would
become the leading industrial region of
the continent. They did not know, OF
course, OF the many abnormal conditions
that fol century were destined to divert
the centers of American industry and
manufacture from their proper positions.
They only argued from the manifest ad-
vantages possessed by the South as they
knew it over other sections, and thei,
conclusions, though long iu being real
lied, appear to be Justified at last. The
South, industrially dormant almost since
the birth of the nation. has at length as
serted it's natural privilege, and today
promises to become VIVA. the early faith
ers predicted-the great workshop OF
America.
Hoods Sarsaparilla has cured thousands
of cases of rheumatism This il ahundap I